Man fined S$8,000, banned from driving for a year after road rage against driver in Sengkang

SINGAPORE: After a driver cut into his lane and caused him to brake hard, a man gestured at the woman, continuously sounded his horn and kept overtaking her car before braking abruptly.

After driving dangerously for a time, the man alighted and kicked the woman's car, leaving a dent, before shouting and cursing at her.

Kumaresan Krishnasamy, 44, was fined S$8,000 and given a year's driving ban on Monday (Dec 28) for his actions. He pleaded guilty to three charges of driving dangerously, using threatening behaviour and committing mischief.

Another charge of obstructing other road users by stopping his vehicle in between two lanes was taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that Kumaresan was in his car with his wife on Sep 12, 2018. He was travelling along Rivervale Drive in Sengkang when the victim, Ms Deepa R Sundaramoorthy, exited a multi-storey car park and cut past Kumaresan's car in her vehicle.

Kumaresan braked hard and sounded his horn at the victim. He drove so that his car was parallel to the victim's and made a gesture that the victim perceived as rude.

He drove ahead of the victim's car and the victim tried to overtake him from a right lane, beating a red light in the process.

Kumaresan perceived that the victim also made a gesture towards him that was rude, and he grew agitated, the court heard.

He began driving behind the victim, sounding his horn continuously. In the process, the victim braked while driving over a hump, while Kumaresan was behind her.

Along a three-lane portion of Rivervale Drive, while the victim was in the middle lane, Kumaresan accelerated and overtook her before swerving into her lane and braking abruptly, forcing the woman to step on her brakes.

Kumaresan sped off again before braking abruptly a second time in front of the victim. The woman tried to switch to the left lane, but Kumaresan mirrored her move before braking abruptly a third time.

The victim was angry and started scolding Kumaresan, demanding to know what he wanted. She had repeatedly tried to switch lanes to overtake him, but he cut her off each time by swerving into her lane.

Eventually, Kumaresan stopped his car between two lanes such that the victim had to stop her vehicle as well. He alighted and walked towards the victim, who panicked and tried to reverse to avoid a confrontation.

Kumaresan reached her vehicle and kicked the front driver's door, resulting in a loud "bang" and causing the entire vehicle to shake upon impact.

He shouted "what is your f***ing problem?" twice at her before returning to his vehicle and driving off.

The victim lodged a police report the next day and the damage to her car was assessed to be S$1,180. Kumaresan has made no restitution.

The prosecutor asked for a high fine and a driving ban of at least 12 months, noting that dangerous driving offences committed in the context of road rage scenarios are particularly worrying.

Kumaresan's driving posed a risk not only to himself and to the victim but to other road users, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi Boppana said. He also prevented the victim from leaving the area, and applied his brakes suddenly multiple times.

"While the victim was not exactly a model of graciousness (given her own traffic infringements), this does not excuse the accused’s actions or reduce his culpability by any measure," said the prosecutor.